KOTA BARU: The 27 agencies operating from Urban Transformation Centres (UTCs) across the country offer the rakyat a “service delivery” concept which has been recognised by the World Bank, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.

He said UTCs, which were introduced in 2012, also won the Prime Minister's innovation award in 2014.

"We received overwhelming response from the public since UTCs were introduced, (with the first being in) 2012 in Malacca under the Government Transformation Programme.

"It proved a success, with 4.7 million customers being served at UTCs nationwide. I was informed that the same response is expected (here)," Najib said when opening Kelantan’s UTC here today.

Also present were Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob, International Trade and Industry minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, and senior officers from both Federal and state government departments.

Najib said with 27 agencies operating under one roof, every day, Malaysia’s UTCs are the only government service providers in the world to operate seven days a week.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also announced that the East Coast Railway (ECR) project will be extended from Wakaf Bharu to Pengkalan Kubor, as requested by the people.

"The project is expected to be completed either in 2021 or 2022. This will help boost the (east coast region’s) economic growth rate by between 1 and 1.5 per cent in future," he added.